The Red Lady
by talontless
Summary: Charlie was always too powerful, she was after all a princess, born from a fallen Queen and a White night, who were the most powerful women in any realm. After being refused again and again to be taught how to use magic, she finds solace in the Enchanted Forest. Charlie soon figures out learning to control her powers and being controlled are two very different things.
1. Chapter 1

**I apologize for any spelling/grammar mistakes, I don't have a beta. All rights go to ABC except a few characters of my own creation. I hope you enjoy(:**

* * *

Bass looked different, his eyes were still the same blue they always were but they showed a hint of sadness that were mimicked in Charlie's own, he was the same height he had always been but he seemed shorter, maybe it was the way Charlie held herself higher now or maybe six years of reflecting back on what he did had taken his once strong stature. His voice was still the same raspy voice, it sounded like the taste of coffee on a Sunday morning, Charlie had always been a coffee addict and she wasn't in the business of denying herself such a simple pleasure.

Charlie was always a force to be reckoned with, but five years of hell had made her as ruthless as the villain in her mother's tale of the kingdoms. Her hair was the same dark brown color that it had always been and she still sported the same natural waves that had spent countless nights strewn about Bass' well toned chest.

It was the first time in five years she had allowed herself to let emotions into play. No emotions had been drilled into her for five years. A spark is unable to be contained when emotions come into play, and Charlie had never started a spark she couldn't stop because of her laws. Maybe today would be the day she brought a tidal wave of flames down on herself.

"I never wanted to hurt you Charlie," Bass never was a good liar, over the course of one year Charlie had picked up on his tells, the way his eye would dart slightly to the left before he would speak or the subconscious way he would run a perfectly tan hand through his caramel color locks that more often than not, smelled like forest.

"If that were true you wouldn't have done it in the first place, Bass." Charlie avoided eye contact, she knew if she looked him in the eyes she spent three years memorizing and three years trying to forget, she would be right back under his spell.

He never needed magic to control her, his cool cerulean blues were enough. It's easy to drown in a sea of love that tastes a hell of a lot like safety, even when you know the water ahead is treacherous.

Bass took a step forward and in return Charlie stepped back. Five feet, she reminded herself. Five feet and maybe, by some miracle she could walk out of the clearing with her dignity; and her life. Not that she was afraid of Bass, it was always herself she had no control over. Restraint and resistance were synonyms that Charlie didn't hold in her vocabulary.

"I was promised you wouldn't get hurt. Gray lied to me-" It's the truth, his eyes never faltered, but it didn't stop the roll of anger filled statements that fell out of Charlie's mouth.

"Oh, he lied to you! That makes it all better then, how could I be so fast to judge? Now what was this lie exactly?" Charlie's eyes had filled with tears that were starting to cloud her once acute sense of vision. Maybe it was a metaphor, she never could see the real person Bass was when they were together. It's hard to hate someone you once loved so much.

Bass looked at the ground, his mouth opened and closed repeatedly, like gravity had taken over him for just a moment, after all when you hit rock bottom there's only one thing that can bring you down further. The silence filled the clearing like a tidal wave of guilt ready to drown them both, but one of them had a life jacket and Charlie didn't believe in second chances.

She stood there, waiting for the waves to come crashing in a rapid succession of burning lungs because maybe Bass would feel an ounce of the pain Charlie went through. Maybe getting dragged under the waves would teach him not to fuck with women forged from fire, but no such ocean enveloped them. The clearing was still the same clearing, Charlie was still Charlie, Bass was still Bass, and Charlie was still waiting for an apology and explanation that would never be good enough. The silence was becoming a pattern of theirs.

Charlie closed her hazel eyes that once lit up at the sight of his goofy, crooked grin. She wanted to turn on her leather laden heal and tell him to fuck off, but curiosity really is a killer. She found herself glued to the grass that was slowly turning to ash around her. Anger is a tricky thing and being born from a Queen and a White Knight wasn't exactly conducive to a calm demeanor.

She couldn't bring herself to say the one word, eight letters, two syllables that had been hanging off the tip of her tongue like acid for the past year.

The only sound that could be heard was the crunch of leaves beneath her leather soles. It wouldn't be long before she would feel the familiar burn of fire begin its ascent up her body and a spark in her mind that would never be put out.

"Do you remember the night you taught me the game with the deck of numbers? We played it for hours in our tent, well into sunrise, and we used acorns for money." Bass was pleading, but it sounded more like a one way ticket to a heated fight between ex-lovers.

Charlie stood silent, not willing herself to let the salt water fall, as if it would somehow stop the flow of memories that were stampeding in front of her hazel eyes.

"Poker," A small smile tugged up on the corners of her cherry red lips.

"Poker," Bass confirmed, a slight grin appeared in the corner of his upper lip, "You told me I was a lousy gambler, you called every play I tried to make. You told me never to play the game for real because I would lose everything I owned." It was true, that night had been one of many she returned to the Enchanted Forest instead of her mansion in Storybrooke, only this time she had brought a deck of cards and a bottle of jack with her.

Charlie's emotions were waging a war inside of her that any normal human being would have surrendered to at this point, "Why are you telling me this Bass?"

The silence that followed was unbearable. Charlie wanted to leave, more than anything she wanted to disappear in a cloud of smoke, but she needed to know why. It was the question that lingered in the forefront of her brain and nagged her at all hours of the night, but no goddamn reason was ever good enough.

"Because I gambled for your life," Charlie had heard a lot of submissions of guilt over the last half decade but none of them had ever evoked such a spark of emotion inside her, the red flames that danced in front of her once tear filled eyes were growing at an unnatural rate, "and I lost."

Maybe it was an ocean of flames Charlie had been waiting for after all.

* * *

**Hey guys! This is my first fanfic and I would love feedback! This is only the prologue, the next chapter will introduce these characters as well as some of the shows characters! Swan Queen will appear in the next chapter! Reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry it took me so long to out up this chapter, it's the week before vacation so I haven't had much time to write! Again, any mistakes are my own and I apologize.**

* * *

Charlie had grown up hearing stories of her mothers' battles, and how magic had ultimately played a large role in the countless victories in the royal name. Magic was an ally that they had no trouble taking advantage of, but they refused to pay it back in the form of teaching another.

Magic was a significant factor in Charlie's birth; she had been conceived by it and ultimately it had been used to save her and Regina's lives.

Simply being denied to be taught how to control her natural abilities was cruel in itself. Charlie was born with the gift, she wanted to use it.

What little she had learned from her mother's books, that were once kept hidden in her mothers', office taught her creating and controlling were two very different things.

"Why won't you teach me, mother?" Charlie was fuming. Her ears matched the color of her near exact replica of the red leather jacket Emma had custom ordered for her, much to her brunette mother's displeasure. The often referred to 'piece of carcass' rarely left her shoulders. Charlie was beginning to feel the familiar burn in her hand, a burn that would soon turn into a fire that she had no idea how to put out.

It was a now common occurrence in Charlie's supposed "magic free" life. She had a temper double that of her mothers and a love for fire that it had no trouble exploiting.

"No magic." Regina moved her hands to her denim jean adorned hips, "your mother and I agreed to that years ago." Regina's glare was lost on her teenage daughter. There was no doubt that the younger face staring back at her was Emma Swan's daughter. The resemblance was uncanny. It was as if someone had take Regina's face and placed Emma's determined expression on it.

The pure look of rage on the 16 year old face was nearly the exact same expression as the one her blonde mother had sported Tuesday night when they fought over whose night it was to pick the movie. An argument that had ensued for nearly an hour and had left Emma in a disgruntled state for three days.

Regina had won, of course, while Emma's natural fight was strong, Regina was a stone. She didn't back down; not even from a silly fight on movie night. Though Charlie inherited Regina's face and hair, she received Emma's, or one could say the charming lines, fiery personality. The only place the two met was in her hazel eyes, and the way she would fight for what she wanted; what she believed in.

"It's my birthright, mother. You can't just expect me to be born from the queen and the savior, the two most powerful women in all the realms, and not have magic in my life." Charlie refused to let it go.

Charlie had never backed down from a fight before, she wasn't about to start now, especially over something she felt so strongly about. Magic was her blood right; and in some ways it was her death wish too. The dangers she had found in trying to teach herself had left several scorched trees in the woods and a painful memory of her little sister nearly burning to death.

Fire was a metaphor for Charlies what everyone said. It was her element, her unalienable power. Elements were directly related to a magic wielders ability. Regina was Earth and Emma was air, a perfect state of balance.

Charlie had yet to find another fire element in Storybrooke, or on her short visits to the Enchanted forest. Elemental code said she needed a water element to balance out, but Charlie was hardly one for rules.

Things had often caught on fire during temper tantrums when she was a child, but instead of teaching her to control it they charmed a necklace, much like the bracelet that had been used on Regina nearly two decades ago, to render her without magic.

The necklace had been removed on her 13 birthday, her mothers felt like her emotions would be in better check and she would be conscious of everything happening around her. When she was young she would catch anything in reach on fire without realizing it.

Sometimes she wished they had left the necklace on.

"That is enough, Charlotte. Stop asking questions you already know the answers too. No magic and that is final." Regina never had trouble putting her foot down on issues involving magic, which more often than not, involved Charlie. Her daughter was nothing if not stubborn.

Regina was the only one who called her Charlotte, a name she despised even more than its creator. She was Charlie to everyone else, including her blond mother, she was Lee to six year old Coraline, her little sister. A tiny, emerald eyed, blond haired girl with the biggest heart in the world. She, like their brunette mother, was an earth elemental, and currently posed no threat.

It's Charlie, mother." the venom in Charlie's voice would leave a wound on Regina's heart for the next week. Regina knew her eldest daughter hated her name, but it had always felt right, even before Charlie was born.

"Mother, I can't control it. I feel like a ticking time bomb, I could go off any minute. The last thing I want is to hurt someone, especially you, or Ma, or Coraline, but I can't stop it." Charlie was pleading with her mother now, her hazel eyes had filled with tears that were threatening to fall.

Tears would have no effect on her mother, but Charlie always had trouble controlling her emotions. The mayor stood perfectly still but stiffened, her hands holding their original position on her hips.

Charlie felt the all too familiar burn begin to travel up her arm, but refused to let it control her. The flames would swallow her whole if she let them.

She hated her mother for denying to teach her, but she would not let her mother fall victim for her little control.

Regina's face flashed with a look of pain, an emotion Charlie had rarely seen adorned on her mother's normally stoic face.

Not for the first time Charlie began to wonder what she had done to warrant her magic free life. She had to have done something.

"I never ask you for anything mother, please." Charlie's nature was to fight tooth and nail for what she wanted, but she knew how to play a game of chess better than most. Attacking a soft spot was an easy way to get past defenses.

"We are done discussing this Charlotte, do not bring it up again." Regina stood firm, her hands had left their usual placement on her hips and had turned into white knuckled fists at her sides.

Charlie's once pale skin was turning bright red, the fire ascending up her arm wasted no time engulfing her torso. There was no brun from the flames, they felt like a cocoon of safety. If asked Charlie would have compared it to the feeling of her mother's arms as a child, but no one ever had.

Charlie being safe never meant anyone else was. Fires love to spread.**  
**

* * *

**I apologize for the slow chapter, but I need background information before I lead into everything. No Emma this chapter but we will see her next! And is that Henry and Coraline I spy ahead?(: As always, I love and appreciate any feedback/favorites/follows on this story! Until next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I know this took me forever to put up, I profusely apologize! Anyway, here it is! **

* * *

The sharp shrill that filled the large white mansion was one that Charlie had hoped to avoid, but had expected all the same. It was nothing new, the smoke would always travel to the smoke detector before Charlie even realized she had started a fire. It was the resonating sound that brought her out of her fire-filled trance.

The smell of smoke filled Regina's nose before Emma's voiced raised above the smoke detectors, "Regina? Charlie?"

Regina didn't answer her, instead she turned on her stilettos only to find her teenage daughter's white door shut. She tried the silver knob in a haste filled motion of brute force against the lock that had reluctantly found its way to her door, to find that it had been thrown.

"Charlotte, open the door this instant," no response came from the other side, "Charlotte, please!" Regina could faintly hear her daughter's leather heels scrapping against the wooden floor. She wasn't sure which made her feel worse, the lack of answer or the smoke that was starting to thicken and obstruct her vision.

"Regina where are you?" Emma's voice was laced with worry as she fought her way through their maze of a house. Charlie's room happened to be in the very back corner, meaning it would be the last place anyone who would come to help would look for them. Charlie had moved rooms six years ago, when Coraline was born, letting her be in the room closest to their mothers.

"Please mother, just leave, the flames won't hurt me but they will kill you and Ma if you don't get out." Charlie was doing her best to focus on her breathing and trying to calm the flames that were consuming her body as well as her queen bed. Breathing was key, she knew oxygen fueled fires but this was one that could only be put out by keeping calm.

An out of breath Emma joined Regina outside of their teenage daughter's bedroom door.

"Charlie, open the damn door this instant!" Emma's forceful command rose over Charlie's racing mind and the never-ending sound of the fire alarm. Leave it to Emma to try and take control of a tricky situation she had just dipped her toe in.

Charlie stood firm on her leather and metal desk chair in an attempt to keep the flames from catching on her wooden floor. Maybe dark sycamore floors weren't her best idea.

"I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't want to hurt anyone," was the mantra Charlie had been repeating to herself in a hushed tone. It was true, hurting someone was her worst fear, and in all honesty it became closer to a reality every day.

She focused on regulating her breathing, she knew if she was calm the flames would subside. She didn't mean to start the fire, but then again she never did mean too.

"Charlie, open the door before I break it down." Emma was strong, but Charlie didn't know if she was that strong. But she knew her mother would do anything to protect her children.

"Just give me a minute. I can do this," Charlie stepped down off her chair and closed her eyes. "I can do this. I don't want to hurt anyone. I can do this," Charlie whispered to herself.

The flames began to diminish around her. It was like she thought, calm emotions equaled no fire.

Outside the door Regina and Emma stood side by side, both clueless as to help their daughter. On one hand Emma wanted to break down the door, but she wanted to give her daughter this, she wanted to give her the chance to control her magic.

"She's going to be okay, right?" Regina asked barely above a whisper. She had to be okay. They couldn't lose her too. She had to be okay.

Of course she will be, she's our daughter," Emma returned with a small smile playing at the edges of her lips. If anyone could do this it was the daughter of the Queen and the Savior.

"We need to put the necklace back on her, she's too powerful like this," it was Regina suggesting it this time. Years ago it had been Rumple who had come up with the plan. He had always taken a keen interest in Charlie's magic, wanting to teach her at a very young age. When Regina and Emma refused her knew the only other option was to contain her.

"Or Rumple could teach her. She is too old for the necklace. I don't want her growing up to hate us because we denied her natural abilities." Emma spoke softly, but loud enough that it could still be heard over the continuous alarms. She knew how Regina felt about teaching Charlie magic, but she also knew that if they denied her, they would lose her the day she turned 18.

Regina's jaw locked, she turned her attention back to the white door as she said, "No. No magic. We decided that after the accident. I don't want her to have the power to hurt anyone else. She doesn't remember the accident, but I do." Everyone remembered the accident, except Charlie herself. She was too young.

"I think about it every day Regina. You weren't the only one caught in her flames. She needs control or this will happen time and time again." Emma spoke forcefully to her wife, tears threatened to fall for her emerald eyes. Yes, teacher her daughter would dredge up memories, but it could also give them a chance to make new ones.

Regina whipped her head around to respond but instead was greeted with the sound of their daughter's door being unlocked. The two dropped the topic, this wasn't something Charlie needed to hear.

The duo were met with the face of their daughter, looking angry and sullen all at once, "I told you I need control. I could have killed you." She looked pointedly at Regina.

Charlie pushed passed her mothers and ran down the hall. The fire had stopped but it left the smell of smoke everywhere and a ringing in Regina's ears that would take years to forget.

"I'll follow her," Emma spun on her heel in pursuit of the visibly upset brunette. She left behind a touchy subject and a wife with emotions waging a war inside her.

Regina watched Emma's blond locks bounce as she sprinted down the still echoing hallway.

The raven haired mother faced her daughter's door once again, only this time it was wide open. The door was pure white, a stark contrast to the scene beyond it.

She walked into the light room wearily. The room was obviously decorated by someone with a taste like Regina's; simple blacks and whites with splashes of red thrown in. Much like her own bedroom had been before she married Emma. Now her room had taken a turn to represent both her and the sheriff.

Charlie's once white and black flowered comforter had scorch marks about it. A picture of her and Regina that had previously been on her nightstand was on the floor in a heap of broken glass and burning pillows.

"What the hell have I done," Regina let slip from her lips, "What the hell have I done?"

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed the small glimpse into Charlie's magic, and a little bit of information as to why Regina refuses to let her learn magic! Any ideas on what the "accident" could be, I would love to know! Is that the enchanted forest I see ahead... hmmm... it just might be(;**

**Let me know what you guys think!**


End file.
